The invention relates to a motor vehicle device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,562 discloses a motor vehicle device, in particular an electric and/or hybrid motor vehicle device, having a charge and/or discharge unit, which has at least one vehicle-side energy transfer unit for touch-free coupling with a corresponding external energy transfer unit for charging and/or discharging at least one battery device.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a constructively simple motor vehicle device, which has a charge and/or discharge unit with a high level of output.
The invention is based on a motor vehicle device, in particular on an electric and/or hybrid motor vehicle device, having a charge and/or discharge unit, which has at least one vehicle-side energy transfer unit for touch-free coupling with at least one corresponding external energy transfer unit for charging and/or discharging at least one battery device, and having a motor vehicle level-adjustment unit that is provided to adjust at least two different motor vehicle heights.
In accordance with the present invention, the motor vehicle device has an adjustment unit, which is provided, for a charging and/or discharging process, to adjust a gap between the at least two energy transfer units to a charge level by means of the motor vehicle level-adjustment unit. Thus, the gap between the energy transfer units can be varied, whereby a good, in particular an optimal, operating point of the charge and/or discharge unit can be adjusted and thus a charge and/or discharge output in the charging and/or discharging process can be increased. By adjusting the charge level by means of the motor vehicle level-adjustment unit, additional, in particular additional moving components, such as additional kinematics for moving the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and/or the external energy transfer unit, can in particular be dispensed with, whereby a constructively simple motor vehicle device can be provided, which has a charge and/or discharge unit with a high level of output.
“Energy transfer unit” should be understood as a unit that can receive and/or send electrical energy in a touch-free and/or contact-free and/or cable-free manner. Preferably, two energy transfer units are provided for touch-free and/or contact-free and/or cable-free transfer of electrical energy over a defined distance to each other. Each energy transfer unit preferably has at least one coil. The at least one vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the at least one external energy transfer unit are preferably separated mechanically from each other. “Touch-free coupling” is to be understood here in particular as an electromagnetic, preferably inductive coupling. The vehicle-side energy transfer unit can advantageously be coupled with various, in particular corresponding and/or similar external energy transfer units in a touch-free manner, i.e. the touch-free coupling is preferably not limited to a specific and/or fixed external energy transfer unit.
“Charge and/or discharge output” should be understood as an output and/or electrical energy that is assigned to the charging and/or discharging process. The charge and/or discharge output for charging and/or discharging the battery device is preferably provided. “Battery device” should be understood as a device for the temporary storage of electrical energy. “Charging process” should be understood as a process in which the charge and/or discharge unit supplies electrical energy to the at least one battery device. In the charging process, the battery device of the motor vehicle is preferably connected functionally to an external energy source via both energy transfer units, wherein the battery device is charged with electrical energy from the external energy source. “Discharging process” should be understood as a process in which the charge and/or discharge unit discharges electrical energy from the at least one battery device of the motor vehicle. In the discharging process, the battery device of the motor vehicle is preferably functionally connected to the external energy source, wherein the battery device is discharged by the external energy source and energy and/or power from the battery is thereby fed into the external energy source. The external energy source is advantageously designed as an external power grid. The external energy source can fundamentally also be designed as a battery device. Advantageously, in the charging and/or discharging process, the energy between both energy transfer units is transferred inductively as a magnetic alternating field without direct electrical contact.
“Motor vehicle level-adjustment unit” should be understood as a unit that enables an optimal ride height, in particular when the motor vehicle is being loaded, to be guaranteed in particular partially automatically and/or completely automatically. The motor vehicle level-adjustment unit preferably adjusts a gap between a motor vehicle body of the motor vehicle and a rotational axis of drive wheels of the motor vehicle and/or between the motor vehicle body and a fraction surface. The motor vehicle level-adjustment unit is preferably designed as a level-regulation element of the motor vehicle. “Motor vehicle body” should be understood as a unit made from load-bearing components of the motor vehicle, which, in its entirety, absorbs forces introduced into the motor vehicle, such as weight forces of persons located in the motor vehicle and/or of loads located in the motor vehicle such as luggage or similar, while at the same time having a protective function, at least for the persons located in the motor vehicle. “Traction surface” should be understood as a surface on which the drive wheels of the motor vehicle rest in a normal driving state, whereby an existing drive force of the motor vehicle is converted into a propulsion force and transferred to the surface. “Motor vehicle body” should be understood as a non-self-supporting body with a chassis, which together form a unit.
“Charge level” should be understood as a gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit, in which the charging and/or discharging process takes place. Preferably, the charge and/or discharge output is dependent on the charge level. The charge level is advantageously an optimized gap between both energy transfer units, wherein the charge and/or discharge output is optimized. The charge level is advantageously smaller than a gap between both energy transfer units during the normal driving state of the motor vehicle. The charge level preferably defines an operating point of the charge and/or discharge unit. The battery device of the motor vehicle can advantageously be charged and/or discharged efficiently with respect to the charge level. The charge level is preferably designed as a charge and/or discharge level. “Adjustment unit” should be understood as a unit that adjusts the gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit for the charging process and/or the discharging process to the charge level. “Provided” should be understood as specially programmed, configured and/or equipped.
Furthermore, the adjustment unit can have a control and/or regulation unit, which is provided for the automatic and/or partially automatic adjustment of the charge level by means of the motor vehicle level-adjustment unit. In this way, the gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit can be adjusted to the charge level in a particularly comfortable manner. “Control and/or regulation unit” should be understood as a unit with at least one control device. “Control device” should be understood as a unit with a processor unit and with a storage unit, as well as with an operating program stored in the storage unit. The control and/or regulating unit can fundamentally have several control devices connected beneath one another, which are preferably provided to communicate with one another via a bus system such as a CAN bus system.
In a further embodiment according to the invention, the control and/or regulation unit has a regulatory operating mode that is provided to adjust the charge level for the charging and/or discharging process depending at least on a charge and/or discharge output of the charge and/or discharge unit. Due to this, the gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit can be regulated to an optimal charge level, whereby an optimal operating point of the charge and/or discharge unit can be adjusted. Preferably, by adjusting the charge level depending on the charge and/or discharge output, an optimal charge level for an external energy transfer unit used for the charging and/or discharging process can be determined, whereby a flexibility of the charge and/or discharge unit can be increased. “Adjusting depending on a charge and/or discharge output” should be understood as a regulation.
Furthermore, the control and/or regulation unit can have a control operating mode that is provided to adjust the charge level for the charging and/or discharging process, independent of a charge and/or discharge output of the charge and/or discharge unit. In this way, the gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit can be adjusted to a charge level in a particularly simple manner. “Adjusting depending on a charge and/or discharge output” should be understood as a control.
Additionally, the control and/or regulation unit can be provided at least in the control operating mode to adjust the charge level for the charging and/or discharging process to a fixed value of the charge level. Thus an adjustment of the gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit, which is independent of the charge and/or discharge output, can be implemented in a particularly simple manner. It is preferred for the fixed value of the charge level to be stored in the storage unit of the control and/or regulation unit. Advantageously, the fixed value is adjusted to the motor vehicle having the motor vehicle device and/or to an external energy transfer unit. Preferably, several values of the charge level can be fixed in the storage unit, which are each adjusted to an external energy transfer unit and/or to an external environment, for example to air humidity. The control and/or regulation unit here advantageously adjusts the charge level to the fixed value, which is in turn adjusted to the used external energy transfer unit and/or to the present external environment. For the detection of the external energy transfer unit used for charging and/or discharging and/or of the external environment, the motor vehicle device preferably has a sensor system. A “sensor system” should be understood to be a unit that detects a physical size and emits a sensor signal that is dependent on the physical size. A “sensor signal” should be understood as an electrical and/or electronic signal, which is emitted from the sensor system and is then preferably evaluated by an electronic evaluation unit. Here, the sensor signal is preferably dependent on a physical size, and changes when the physical size changes. The evaluation unit is advantageously designed integrally with the control and/or regulation unit, i.e. the control and/or regulation unit contains the evaluation unit.
It is particularly advantageous if the charge and/or discharge unit has a sensor system and the control and/or regulation unit is provided to activate the charging and/or discharging process automatically, depending on the sensor system. This increases the user-friendliness of the motor vehicle device.
Furthermore, it is advantageous if the motor vehicle device has a motor vehicle body that is connected tightly to the vehicle-side energy transfer unit. Thus, the adjustment of the gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit to the charge level can be carried out in a constructively simple manner by means of the motor vehicle level-adjustment unit. In this context, “connected tightly” should be understood in that the vehicle-side energy transfer unit is arranged in a fixed manner on the motor vehicle body relative to the motor vehicle body.
It is particularly preferred if the motor vehicle level-adjustment unit is designed hydraulically and/or pneumatically and if the adjustment unit for adjusting the charge level is provided to adjust at least one operating resource parameter of the motor vehicle level-adjustment unit. Thus, a particularly advantageous motor vehicle level-adjustment unit can be provided. The operating resource parameter is, for example, designed as a number of operating resources, a volume of operating resources and/or an operating resource pressure and/or similar.
Moreover, the motor vehicle level-adjustment unit can have at least one undercarriage component for adjusting the charge level. Thus, the adjustment of the gap between the vehicle-side energy transfer unit and the external energy transfer unit can be carried out in a particularly simple manner. Preferably, the at least one undercarriage component is designed as a hydro-pneumatic shock absorber.
Further advantages arise from the following description of the FIGURE. An exemplary embodiment of the invention is depicted in the FIGURE. The FIGURE, the description and the claims contain numerous features in combination. The person skilled in the art will also necessarily consider the features individually and will integrate them into further worthwhile combinations.